Tile and process of producing same.



Patented Feb. 27, I900.

H. c. MERCER.

TILE AND PROCESS OF PRODUCING SAME.

[Application filed July 3, 1399.)

(No Model.)

mu H "NIIHIM i NITED TATES PATENT much.

TILE AND PROCESS OF PRODUCING SAME srncrrxcarrou amiag part of LettersPatent No. 644,530, dated February 27, 1906.

Application filed July 3, 1899. derial No. 722,725. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY O. MERCER, a citizen of the UnitedStates,residing at Doylestown, in the county of Bucks and State ofPennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Tiles andProcesses of Producing the Same, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to pottery, and more particularly to those muraltiles which have raised portions or portions in rilievo, and also to themaking thereof.

It consists in a simple, inexpensive, and expeditious process wherebywhen one or more than one layer of slip is employed on the face of thebase of the tile or other article of pottery the raised portion orportion of the tile or other pottery article in rilievo is made tocontrast in color to the ground portion thereof.

Viith the foregoing in mind the invention will be fully understood fromthe following description and claims when taken in conjunction with theannexed drawings, in which-- Figure 1 is a face view of a tile made inaccordance with myinvention. Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken in theplane indicated by the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Figs. 3, 4, and 5 areenlarged detail sections illustrative of modifications hereinafterreferred to.

Referring by letter to the said drawings, and more particularly to Figs.1 and 2 thereof, A is a base, of common red brick or other clay, whichis provided with a suitable design made up of a raised portion at and aground portion 2).

B is a layer of clay cream or slip applied to the face of the base, thesaid slip being by preference thick and sticky and calculated to becomevery hard when dry.

0 is a thin layer of slip which is of a color or calculated to produce acolor contrasting with that of the slip B and is also of a mealycharacter.

' In carrying out my invention I produce a design made up of the raisedportion a and the ground or depressed portion 19 on the face of the baseby any of the modes well-known in the art, and entirely cover the saidface with a layer B of clay cream or slip and permit the latter to dry.When the layer of clay cream or slip B is dry, the slip O is poured overor otherwise suitably applied to said layer B and permitted to dry. Ithen rub the slip 0 off the raised portion a of the design to a greateror less extent, according to the clearness with which it is desired tohave the clay cream or slip B on said raised portion stand out, with apiece of chamois-skin or other material suitable to the purpose. W iththis done heat is applied to the tilethat is, the same is baked or firedin the manner wellknown in the artwhen by virtue of the slip 0 havingbeen wiped or rubbed oif the raised portion a of the design said raisedportion will contrast with the ground portion 1).

I prefer to have the clay cream or slip B white or light in color andthe slip O of a dark color or calculated to produce a dark color,because when the slip C is wiped off the raised portion of the designsaid raised portion is made very prominent.

I prefer to apply the layer of slip C to the layer of slip B prior tothe burning of the tile, but do not desire to be understood as confiningmyself to the same, as said layer of slip 0 might be applied subsequentto the burning or firing of the tile and after drying might be rubbedoff the raised portion of the design in the manner before described. Ialso desire it understood that I do not confine myself to rubbing theslip 0 off the raised portions of the design. Under some conditions itmight be scraped off with the longitudinal edge of a piece of wood orother material or with a brush having very short bristles, the principlebeing always the same--viz., quickly skimming across the raised portionsof the design and leaving the depressed portions untouched.

When the slip B is thick and sticky and cal culated to become very hardwhen dry and the slip O is thin and of a mealy character, the wiping,rubbing, or scraping of the said slip C from the raised portion of thedesign and the exposition of the white or light-colored slip B on saidraised portion may be expeditiously accomplished.

The face of the tile is preferably glazed, as usual; but I do not desireto be understood as confining myself to the same, as the article 1produced in accordance with my invention is complete Without such step.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing that my improved tile may beproduced very cheaply, inasmuch as the base A may be formed of low gradeclayred brick clay, for instance-and it is only necessary to employenough of the comparatively-expensive cream clay or slip B to cover theface of the base and enough of the color or color-producing slip O toproduce the desired color effect.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 1 and 2 both theground I) and raised portion a of the design are smooth, and the layerof slip Bis of an even thickness throughout, with the result that thecolor of the base A, which is red in this instance, is prevented fromshowing through the inner layer B of white or light-colored slip. If,however, the slip B on the raised portion a of the design be rubbed withsandpaper or other abrasive material or scraped to a greater or lessextent, the color of the base A will tint the slip B on said raisedportion a, and thereby enhance the beauty of the tile.

In Fig. 3 is shown a modification in which the base A is provided on itsface with a design made up of a raised portion aand a rough groundportion 1). \Vhen the layer B of cream clay or slip, made thin for thepurpose, is applied to the said face of the base, but little, if any, ofthe same will remain on the ends of the protuberances of the roughground portion of the design, and hence when the slip C is subsequentlyapplied to the layerB, with the same result as in case of layer B, andrubbed off the raised portion a and the protuberances of the roughground portion 1) the base A, which is red in this instance, will bemore or less exposed at various points and a flecked or stippled andvery beautiful effect produced. In this instance both slips act thesame, although 13, being thicker, shows it much less than C. Both tendto collect in the minor hollows of the rough general surface and enhancethe stippled effect, which is not seen where the general surface issmooth. When it is desired to expose the base A at various points on theraised portion of the design, the same may be accomplished by rubbing orscraping more or less of the layer of slip B off said raised portion atthe points desired or by making said raised portion rough, as indicatedby a in Fig. at, in which latter case but little, if any, of the layerof slip B will be deposited on the extremities of the protuberances, andwhen the layer of slip O is rubbed or scraped oil": the raised portionand the protuberances of the design the base A will be exposed at pointsin the manner and for the purpose before described. This effect is alsoproduced by making the slip B thin, which renders it more apt to run offthe high parts, leaving but a thin film there, and enables the body toburn through and tinge it. To hold its color over the more fusible bodybelow it, the slip B should be about as thick as thin molasses. If it ismade of the consistency of poor cream, the body color burns through,particularly on the high parts.

In the embodiments of the invention disclosed in Figs. 3 and 4 itwill beobserved that the tile is decorated with three colors with no more laborand expense than when two colors are exposed. It will also be observedthat the flecked or stippled effect is produced by the rubbing orscraping of the layer of slip G from portions of the design, whichoperation is rendered easy by the irregular and rough impression on theclay base. The collection of the colored or color-producing slip in thedepressions of the design and its removal from the numerous raisedportions thereof result in an antique effect, which greatly enriches thevividness and charm of the coloring of the tile. Such disposition of thecolor or color-producing slip is also advantageous, because it isdifferent in each tile, thus avoiding flatness and sameness or monotonyin a large surface of mural tiles.

In Fig. 5 is shown a modification in which the slips l3 and O are usedin conjunction with a clay base A and both are entirely rubbed, scraped,or otherwise removed from the raised portion aof the design, and thesurface of the said raised portion is rubbed off, as indicated by a soas to expose the varying color of the clay base. The layers B C may beand preferably are rubbed oif the raised portion of the design withsandpaper orother abrasive substance or scraped off with a piece ofstick, and when they contrastin color with each other and the clay baseand the tile is glazeda very rich and beautiful effect is obtained.

In all of the embodiments of my invention where the two layers of slipI3 0 are employed toning or variation in shade may be obtained by harderor lighter rubbing, scraping, or removing of the layers to reduce thethickness of layer B or by rubbing when the color or color-producinglayer 0 is not quite dry and is consequently adapted to mix with thelayer of slip l5 and tint the latter.

All of the tiles described are designed to be used as mural tiles forinterior decoration and are therefore, preferably, glazed in theordinary well-known manner.

In those embodiments of my invention in which the dark color orcolor-producing slip is applied to a hard white or light-colored surfaceI prefer to employ the base of common clay and the layer of white .orlightcream clay or slip thereon for the reasons stated. I also desire itunderstood that in those embodiments of the invention in which the claybase is exposed any fusible clay may be used to form the said base, and,further, that it may be used in its natural state or may be colored byany of the modes well.

different color from the first, and then removing the second layer ofslip from the raised portions of the design and thereby exposing thefirst layer of slip on said raised portions.

2. The method of making and ornamenting pottery which consists informing a clay base with a design having raised and ground portions,covering the design with a layer of slip contrasting in color with thebase and of a hard, close-grained nature when dry, then, after thedrying of said hard layer, applying a second layer of slip of differentcolor from the first and of looser and more friable nature, and thenremoving the second layer of slip from the raised portions of thedesign.

3. The method of making and ornamenting pottery which consists offorming a clay base with a design having raised and ground portions,covering the design with a layer of slip contrasting in color with thebase, then applying a second layer of slip of different color from thefirst, and then removing the second layer of slip and portions of thefirst layer from the raised portions of the design.

4. The method of making and ornamenting pottery which consists informing a clay base with a design having raised and ground portions,covering the design with a layer of slip contrasting in color with thebase and of a hard, close-grained nature when dry, then, after thedrying of said hard layer, applying a second layer of slip of difierentcolor from the first and of looser and more friable nature, and thenremoving the second layer of slip and portions of the first layer fromthe raised portions of the design.

5. The method of making and ornamenting pottery which consists offorming a clay base with a design having raised and ground portions,covering the design with a layer of slip contrasting in color with thebase, then after the drying of said layer applying a second layer ofslip of difierent color from the first, then removing the second layerof slip and portions of the firstlayer from the raised portions of thedesign and finally firing the pottery.

6. The method of making and ornam enting pottery which consists offorming a clay base with a face having a rough portion, covering thesaid base with a layer of slip contrasting in color with the base, thenapplying a second layer of slip of different color from the first, andthen removing the second layer of slip from the protuberances of therough portion of the face whereby aflecked or stippled effect isproduced.

7. The method of makingandornamenting pottery which consists of forminga clay base with a design having raised and ground por tions, coveringthe design with a layer of slip contrasting in color with the base, thenafter the drying of said layer applying a second layer of slip ofdifferent colorfrom the first then removing the second layer of slip andportions of the first layer from the raised portions of the design byabrasive action and finally firing the pottery.

8. The method of makingand ornamenting pottery which consists of forminga clay base with a design having raised and ground portions, coveringthe design withalayer of slip contrasting in color with the base, and ofa hard close-grained nature when dry, then,

- after the drying of said hard layer, applying a second layer of slipof different color from the first and of looser and more friable naturewhen dry than the first, then removing the second layer by attritionfrom the raised portions of the design and finally firing the pottery.

9. The method of making and ornamenting pottery which consists informing a clay base with a design having raised and ground por tions oneof which has again a rough or irregular face, covering the design with alayer of slip contrasting in color with the base, then applying a secondlayer of slip of difierent color from the first, and then removing thesecond layer of slip from the raised portion and the protuberances ofthe rough or irregular portion of the design, substantially asspecified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing wit nesses.

HENRY O. MERCER.

Witnesses:

PAUL H. APPLEBACH, FREDERICK STUoKERT.

